Pruitt Asked Top Aide To Secure ‘Used Mattress’ From Trump Hotel

UNITED STATES - MAY 16: Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt testifies during a Senate Appropriations Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Subcommittee hearing in Dirksen Building on the ...UNITED STATES - MAY 16: Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt testifies during a Senate Appropriations Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Subcommittee hearing in Dirksen Building on the proposed FY2019 budget for the EPA on May 16, 2018. (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)MORE LESS

Among a slew of odd and unprofessional personal requests that Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt asked his top aide Millan Hupp to undertake for him, Democratic lawmakers revealed in a letter on Monday that Pruitt asked Hupp to secure a “used mattress” from the Trump International Hotel for him.

According to a letter Reps. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) and Gerald Connolly (D-VA) sent to House Oversight Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy (R-SC) — requesting he subpoena the EPA for documents related to Pruitt’s “multiple abuses of authority in using agency staff for his own personal purposes” — Hupp sat for an interview with the House Oversight Committee on May 18.

Hupp told lawmakers that Pruitt had “discussions” with Hupp in September about “securing an old mattress from the Trump Hotel,” according to a transcript of the interview.

“As I remember, the administrator had spoken with someone at the Trump Hotel who had indicated that there could be a mattress that he could purchase, an old mattress that he could purchase, but that’s the extent of the conversation that I can — that I can remember,” she said, according to the transcript.

Hupp said she didn’t know why Pruitt wanted the mattress other than he mentioned it “around the same time that he was moving.” She said she never “actually connected” with someone at the Trump Hotel about the secondhand bedding.

The top aide, who Pruitt has called a longtime friend, dating back to his days in Oklahoma, also told lawmakers she had one of Pruitt’s personal credit card and had booked flights for Pruitt for personal trips during her free time. She said she was willing to take on the personal requests from Pruitt because of their personal friendship.

“Well, we worked very closely together and spent a lot of time together,” she said. “I traveled with him, so naturally a friendship developed.”

It’s been previously reported that Hupp also used official business hours and her agency email address to help Pruitt and his wife find an apartment — including booking appointments with realtors and visiting properties. She told lawmakers that she spent more than a couple hours a week for more than a month working on this task for Pruitt.

Cummings and Connolly expressed concern that Pruitt may be violating federal ethics laws and regulations, including the improper gift statute.

Read the letter and full transcript below:

Nicole Lafond (@Nicole_Lafond)
is a newswriter for TPM based in New York. She has a master's degree in journalism from Columbia University and previously worked as an education reporter at The News-Gazette in Champaign, Illinois.